Homemade valentines might bring doilies and glue sticks to mind, but this classy upgrade is almost as easy as the elementary school version. Chocolate truffles are essentially ganache nuggets dusted with cocoa powder. Ganache is incredibly easy to make and dangerous to have in the fridge. This recipe makes a dozen (good sized) truffles, but you might want to double it in case you find yourself “testing” that ganache more than a few times as it cools. We used just enough of our Earl Grey Zephyr loose leaf tea, featuring real oil of bergamot, orange peel, and lavender, to subtly flavor the chocolate. Use more tea to further emphasize the flavor, or try it with our Lady Earl White or Royal Earl Grey Chai.

Ingredients

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

6 oz. fine-quality dark chocolate (we used 70% cacao)

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

Bring cream and butter to a boil in a saucepan and remove from heat. Stir in tea leaves and let steep 5 minutes. While the tea is steeping, finely grind chocolate in a food processor and transfer to a bowl. Pour the cream mixture through a fine-mesh sieve onto the chocolate, discarding the tea leaves. Whisk until smooth. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours.

To shape the truffles, spoon even scoops of ganache onto a baking sheet. A melon baller or ice cream scoop can help create rounded, even scoops. Make sure your hands are cold (running them under cold water or holding a piece of ice first helps). Dry and roll each piece of ganache into a ball. Keep the rolling to a minimum to prevent the chocolate from softening. They don’t have to be perfectly round; after all, they’re homemade! Drop several balls at a time into bowl of cocoa powder and turn to coat. Transfer to an airtight container, separating layers with wax paper. Store for up to two weeks in the fridge, dusting lightly with more cocoa before serving if needed.

Love our new Peppermint Bark coffee? The candy is fun to make, especially the part when you take out your holiday stress on a bag of mints. Working with melted chocolate can be a little tricky, which is why we like this recipe adapted from Jessica In The Kitchen. The addition of coconut oil helps the chocolate behave nicely. Seizing can be an issue when adding peppermint extract to melted white chocolate, but follow this recipe and you won’t have to find out what that means. Give it as gifts, serve it to guests, eat it all by yourself with a cup of coffee. ‘Tis the season.

Ingredients

Directions

Line an 8-inch baking dish with foil.

Microwave the semi-sweet chocolate chips and ¼ teaspoon coconut oil together in a bowl for 1 minute. Remove and stir. The chips should melt with stirring but if not, microwave in 15 second increments until melted. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract into the chocolate and stir again.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the bottom of the baking dish and spread to cover. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes to set temporarily.

After 15 minutes have passed, Melt the white chocolate and the remaining coconut oil for 1 minute in the microwave. Remove and stir. Microwave for another 15 seconds if not melted, then stir again. Stir in the remaining peppermint extract. Remove the baking dish from the freezer and pour the white chocolate mixture over the solidified semi-sweet chocolate in the baking dish.

Sprinkle with the crushed mints and place in the fridge.

Break apart into pieces once the bark has set and store in the fridge.
Store in the refrigerator.

Having mastered super-simple Vietnamese Iced Coffee Pops, we decided to try another lazy, low-tech frozen dessert: no-churn ice cream. This one might be slightly more lazy, given that an appliance does most of the work and the freezing happens in one step, not two.

Inspired by The Kitchn’s easy recipe for no-churn, 2-ingredient vanilla, we decided to try a coffee version, swirling fudge into the mixture before letting it set. It took minutes to make the ice cream base and the possible variations are endless. Tea, spices, or even herbs would make interesting flavoring alternatives, and mix in anything you like for texture.

If you haven’t tried smoked coffee yet, here’s another reason: it’s fun to cook with. Available during the warmer months of the year, our smoked coffee is wood-smoked in an actual smokehouse and tastes exactly like campfire coffee tastes in your dreams (minus the overcooked bitterness and mouthful of grounds). Coffee is a great way to add complexity to recipes, and the smokiness complements more robust flavors, perfect for meats as a rub or marinade, or as an addition to chili.

What you will need

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup brewed smoked coffee (strong)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon molasses

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1/2 ounce dark (70%) chocolate

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine ketchup, coffee, Worcestershire sauce, molasses, and ginger and bring to a low simmer, stirring occasionally, over medium heat. Lower the heat and stir in the chocolate and smoked paprika until chocolate is melted, then let simmer over very low heat, stirring occasionally, until flavors have mellowed and melded, 5-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

We unveiled a new flavor this month: Black Forest Cake, inspired by this delicious rustic version the traditional German dessert. While we feel Black Forest Cake coffee does the flavor justice, we did eat the cake pictured above in the name of research and feel slightly guilty that we didn’t share. So, here’s the recipe, adapted loosely from Butter and Brioche, baked by our shipping supervisor Lori.

While kirsch liqueur is traditionally used in the cherry topping, we skipped that step with store-bought cherry pie filling, but gave it a hillbilly twist, adding moonshine-soaked cherries on top. Consider it the rural New Jersey version.